SuSE vs. Ubuntu

[darkenedday]

I've been using Ubuntu for about a year now, I love it, I can easily edit my system to look and run however I like, install all my favorite apps, and configure a server and the rest of a network, however I also tried SuSE linux 10.1 for fun, It install most of what I wanted out of the box (java, flash, audio codecs, etc.) however I still don't know alot of the commands but this can easily be solved, I downloaded alot of the programs I wanted including the one that gave me huge problems on Ubuntu when I first started, Limewire, I know frostwire comes in a DEB pkg, but Limewire just seems to run better, I simply downloaded the RPM and installed, not at all dificult. But I can't really decide which I like more they're both great distros and I'd like to hear some oppinions of those in this community, reasons for why which might be "better" in what situation I think Ubuntu is probably the BEST looking Distro and most sensibly put together, however SuSE may be the most userfriendly (without being totally windblows like) YAST is a great tool.

any input is greatly appreciated

thanks in advance

[darkhatter]

hmmm thats a hard one I would have to say suse but that maybe a bad option considering I'm on a ubuntu forum.

and I don't think Suse is written like that anymore I have no idea anymore it keeps changing every couple weeks lol, make up your mind, you may want to try out su....I mean opensuse 10.2 when it comes out cause that is going to be a great project. I had a better experience on Suse but I didn't want to pay for the sled so I'm live disk jumping right now.

I just want to see some improvements to kde this time around cause they upgraded the hell out of gnome

[VirtuAlex]

On my computer it takes forever to open YAST. Maybe it is a great tool, but it just does not work very well for me. It is one perfect distro for a person terrified of command line. Just point and click. But I prefer Ubuntu.

[bensexson]

This is of course going to be an opinion but I like the way Ubuntu is setup better. I like that the root account is disabled and I just sudo for everything. Really though it is mainly because I put alot of effort to get Ubuntu working the way I like it. I have a pretty good feel for the way things work with Debian/Ubuntu and SuSE is enough different I just doesn't "feel" right. I am generally impressed with SuSE. If Debian and Ubuntu disappeared I would most likely move to OpenSuSE.

[kripkenstein]

Both SuSE and Ubuntu are great distros; they are the two best desktop distros in my opinion.

As for differences, Ubuntu has better repositories (as a Debian derivative), and a far bigger and better community (and the support from there) - overall I prefer it. It seems a better OS for the computer enthusiast. However, SuSE is far more 'professional' or business-oriented. There are still too many things Ubuntu forces you to do from the command line, while SuSE has yast. SuSE also has good integration with the various Novell tools for enterprises.

[rattlerviper]

Well I'm not going to say one is better than the other, but go to http://distrowatch.com/ and look at the Distro rankings. For a even more accurate idea of Ubuntu vs. Suse popularity add up Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and Xubuntu and compare that number to Suse. K/X/Ubuntu=3564 hits on distrowatch in the past 6 months. Suse=1933 hits in the past 6 months. 1631 more hits for Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubutu than Suse! Maybe Ubuntu is more popular for a reason?
I've used both, and my opinion is Suse is nice(but bloated)while Ubuntu is near perfect(for me).

[karellen]

Both SuSE and Ubuntu are great distros; they are the two best desktop distros in my opinion.

As for differences, Ubuntu has better repositories (as a Debian derivative), and a far bigger and better community (and the support from there) - overall I prefer it. It seems a better OS for the computer enthusiast. However, SuSE is far more 'professional' or business-oriented. There are still too many things Ubuntu forces you to do from the command line, while SuSE has yast. SuSE also has good integration with the various Novell tools for enterprises.

well put, I second this

[FLPCGuy]

This is of course going to be an opinion but I like the way Ubuntu is setup better. I like that the root account is disabled and I just sudo for everything. Really though it is mainly because I put alot of effort to get Ubuntu working the way I like it. I have a pretty good feel for the way things work with Debian/Ubuntu and SuSE is enough different I just doesn't "feel" right. I am generally impressed with SuSE. If Debian and Ubuntu disappeared I would most likely move to OpenSuSE.

I started with SuSe (9.1 Personal, single CD) first so my impression was just the opposite. While I like both distros, I prefer the root acct to sudo and find Debian and GNOME awkward since I started with KDE and the great YAST graphical utils.

Now that I have managed to get both SuSe 9.1 and Ubuntu 6.10 on my PC along with it's original ME which I never bother to run anymore, I find myself using Ubuntu most often. I have both configured with KDE-look wallpaper photos and transparent bottom taskbar. Fortunately, I don't know enough terminal commands to have a problem switching to a Debian based system at this point. I think the support forums and documentation of both are better than for Windows.

I'm impressed with the flawless dial-up updates and software installs I've gotten so far in Ubuntu, though most of what I'm downloading seems to be KDE stuff (maybe I should have started with Kubuntu) but I like GNOME too. My SuSe 9.1 never updated well via dial-up and is no longer a supported distro. I'd like to try OpenSuse 10.1 but I'm balking at the hassle of six CDs and of course some expense to buy them. The frequent, single live CD approach suits me, though I haven't tried an upgrade yet.

Ubuntu 6.10 packs a lot into a single CD including Firefox 2 and the latest OpenOfc. Ubuntu probably has a better selection of open software, but I haven't spent much time with SuSe since the OpenSuSe project took off.

Still, I'd recommend SuSe for the timid just switching from Windows unless they are financially strapped. Ubuntu seems to be more for hard core UNIX fans though it also has a polished GUI desktop and many utils any idiot can use. If you spend more time under the hood in a terminal window, go with Ubuntu (assuming you don't find sudo awkward as I do).

If you are dial-up, go with Open SuSe or Kubuntu since I couldn't get any GNOME GUI utils to see or use my external serial full modem. I had to run PPP config from a terminal window and download KPPP. A lot of the software seems to be for KDE as well.

Otherwise, my experience with Ubuntu and SuSe have been quite enjoyable with easy installs and configuration even for a beginner. It is a tough choice. Both have package managers for sw installation. RPMs seem more common than DEBs for the stuff I use, but Apt/Synaptic can install either. Both distros are excellent and popular...no clear leader IMHO. That's why I'm running both.

[wjp.reg]

I purchased SuSE 9.3 and ran it on one of my desktops for learning purposes back in early 2005. Since then I upgraded to 10.0 and more recently 10.1

During the same time I ran ubuntu on another partition and now have Dapper installed on my Lenovo laptop and one of my desktops.

I have gradually migrated to ubuntu after cutting my teeth on SuSE and earlier versions of ubuntu and now find I prefer the gnome desktop and ubuntu way of doing things.

I no longer run SuSE as I find it bloated. I was also frustrated with the 10.1 upgrade, even with a fresh install, and all the problems with the new update system - which didn't work when released (why release it?)

I think I am a lot more comfortable with linux now and maybe that is why I feel I can cut loose from SuS.. oops, OpenSuSE which is a nice distro for those abandoning Windows for the first time.

IMHO

wolf

[baldy1324]

i am very open-minded to other distros than debian (which i use), (i love fedora,ubuntu,and freebsd) but suse-NO. suse 10.1 is the slowest operating system i have ever seen, it boots amazingly slowly. i cant figure howto upgrade packages in yast. is it online update, update packages... it takes about 30 seconds to start yast on my computer. its package manager and way of respositories is absolutely terrible. but it is very novell polished.